Page:Collodi - The Story of a Puppet, translation Murray, 1892.djvu/164

 'A puppet?' replied the fisherman. 'To tell the truth, a puppet is quite a new fish for me. All the better! I shall eat you with greater pleasure.'

'Eat me? but will you understand that I am not a fish? Do you not hear that I talk and reason as you do?'

'That is quite true,' said the fisherman; 'and as I see that you are a fish possessed of the talent of talking and reasoning as I do, I will treat you with all the attention that is your due.'

'And this attention? . . .'

'In token of my friendship and particular regard, I will leave you the choice of how you would like to be cooked. Would you like to be fried in the frying-pan, or would you prefer to be stewed with tomato-sauce?'

'To tell the truth,' answered Pinocchio, 'if I am to choose, I should prefer to be set at liberty and to return home.'

'You are joking! Do you imagine that I would lose the opportunity of tasting such a rare fish? It is not every day, I assure you, that a puppet fish is caught in these waters. Leave it to me. I will fry you in the frying-pan with the other fish, and you will be quite satisfied. It is always a consolation to be fried in company.'

At this speech the unhappy Pinocchio began to cry and scream and to implore for mercy; and he said, sobbing: 'How much